The Dreaming Nun
by LizCartwright
Summary: Saddened to see the Convent of San Tanco among so many problems, Sister Bertrille makes a prayer and begin to dream about her world in a way she had never imagined ..


**Disclaimer:** _The Flying Nun_, its characters, plot and names belongs to Bernard Slade, Tere Rios, Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Television / Sony Pictures Digital and their respective owners. This story was written for entertainment, I'm not earning any money with it.

The Convent of San Tanco was going through many financial problems. This crisis was usual for all the sisters, but this time they was really facing a hard period.

Usually Sister Bertrille asked for the help of Carlos Ramirez, the owner of _Carlos A Go-Go's_ casino, which was as a benefactor to all of them. But now he was traveling on a cruise with his new girlfriend and there was no one else to turn to.

They tried to sell some homemade products to raise funds, such as breads, cakes and cookies, made with love (and a little bit of desperate) by the sisters of the convent. But unfortunately they didn't reach the expected profit... Incidentally, more debts were contracted with the purchase of ingredients.

Seeing that the situation was reaching a critical level, Mother Superior called all the sisters to a small gathering after supper:

"Sisters... As all we know, the financial position of the Convent San Tanco is not good... We're in trouble, it is true, but we cannot let despair take hold of us and much less convey this fear for _los niños_. We are servants of God and as such, we must pray and trust that our prayers will reach the ears of the Most High."

Those words uttered by the Mother Superior didn't return empty from Sister Bertrille's heart. She was particularly sadly with this whole situation, mainly because she didn't know what to do. Her anguish wasn't lost to Sister Jacqueline:

"Don't despair, Sister Bertrille... Let us trust in the Lord, He will surely show us a way out of all these problems"

When she was brushing teeth after supper, all heard the desperate cries of Sister Ana: "Aaaaahhhhh! C... Cold! ... C-cold!"

"What happened?" Sister Jacqueline inquired at the door.

The pipe that ran under the low ceiling of the old bathroom has burst and well above the head of the sister who was shaking like a leaf at the wind.

While one nun ran to bring buckets, mops and floor cloths to clean up everything, Sister Sixto shouted:

"Don't forget to clean towels to Sister Mana... I mean, Cana! I mean, Ana!"

Luckily, Sister Jacqueline knew very well how to fix broken pipes and other stuff. She was much better than many plumbers around there.

"This hydraulic system is from the time of St. Francis of Assisi... We need to change this, or will continue breaking."

After the scare, pipe fixed, clean bathroom and Sister Ana with dry pajamas, all the nuns returned to their rooms.

Shortly before lying down, Sister Bertrille started a prayer... And at the end of it, she thought: _'Why the world doesn't live free from problems?'_ And when she slept, she began to dream...

She was flying over to the city, seeing everything from up there. This time the wind blew stronger than ever and she flew higher and higher. From there, everything looked different to what she was used to seeing every day when she was flying: the parents playing with their children, the mothers doing their housework with a smile on her faces... _Los niños_ going to school with joy, and nothing seems lacking them. And Captain Fomento walking through the streets without nothing to do, because nobody seemed to commit more crimes, all were acting with honestly.

Everything was very different... And when she arrived at the convent, she could hardly believe in her eyes: everything was in the right place and looked brand new. The tiles were exchanged, as well as the broken gates and the old furniture. The garden was renovated, the walls emanated a smell of fresh paint and the children had new uniforms!

_"But how is this possible? Until yesterday we had holes in the ceiling and our store room was empty... Why everything has changed and so fast?"_

She remembered the bathroom with the broken pipe on the night before, and she went there. And getting there, she became frightened: the bathroom had also been reformed! She hardly saw the broken plaster and moldy walls with moisture.

Without understanding anything, Sister Bertrille decided to go visit her friend Carlos. Perhaps he had returned from his trip.

Picking up impulse, she began to fly. She wanted to get there as soon as possible. However, the landing was not as she expected: she fell down the roof.

* CRASH!... *

"Oooouuch!..."

Getting up and rubbing her sore parts, she was shocked to see the appearance of the casino. It looked abandoned, with everything old and falling apart.

"Carlos? Carlos, are you there?"

Getting no answer, she went to his office, but no one was there.

"What are you doing here?"

"Aaaahhh!... You scared me!" She screamed as she saw an old man standing behind her, holding a broom.

"Oh... I'm sorry, Sister. I didn't want to scare you. But what a nun is doing in a place like this?"

"Well, I... I came looking for Carlos. Is he here?"

"Carlos Ramirez, the former owner of this casino? He moved a long time ago. I'm the caretaker, _señor Piñada_."

"Nice to meet you, _señor Piñada_. Why Carlos moved out? And why the casino is falling apart?"

"The casino went bankrupt and _Señor_ Carlos was covered of debts. People are honest now, they don't want to spend their money on gambling and bettings."

"And why not? It wasn't always that way?" She knew it was wrong, but things always working that way, since she could remember as person - and nun.

"They were sister, but now everyone is living correctly. They spend money with their families, charities or religious causes. The casino didn't give more profit, that's why Carlos was no way to pay for his luxuries and employees. He declared bankruptcy and had to move to another city."

"Oh, no! Poor Carlos!"

This news turned Sister Bertrille's day even more sadly. She knew the casino was a business unclean before the church, but Carlos wasn't a bad person... He helped the convent whenever he could and he helped a lot. He didn't deserve that something like this happens to him.

With her head down, she returned to the convent. She came down to the classroom to teach the _niños_ as she always did, but there were no children there.

Climbing the stairs, she found Sister Ana in the hallway:

"Sister Ana, where are _los_ _niños_? There is no one in the classroom!"

"Oh, Sister Bertrille! Here is no longer an orphanage... Now that people are dedicated to helping the church and always practice as the good, all the children were adopted! Those who were here today also have found a family!"

And singing, she disappeared along the hallway. Bertrille couldn't say anything, but she felt a mixture of joy and sorrow for the _niños_... That's because they now have families and also would be missing by all of them on the convent of San Tanco.

The dinner was also one of the saddest events of the day. Since they had no problem to split the sisters hardly had a subject about which to talk... Most of the spent meal in absolute silence. And not only that, due to lack of problems, the sisters were no longer as united as before. Then Sister Bertrille realized that all those adversities they faced in day-to-day in San Tanco is that held they together and growing stronger. That all people are just nicer when they had their own problems and friends with which share all these feelings. For even that life take away many good things from us, it gave us many more in return, but we don't realize it. Leaving the dinner table, she went up to the terrace, she wet the tip of her finger on her own tongue, pointed to the sky and found that there was still a lot of wind. And getting a boost, she flew, and flew and awoke from her sleep. Standing up, she put on her slippers and ran to the bathroom. Terrific! The damage was still there! Everything was like before!

Returning to the room still looking back, she bumped on Sister Jacqueline:

"Sister Bertrille! What happened, the pipe burst again?"

"No Sister Jacqueline, but the patch is still there! Isn't that great?" And smiling, she returned to the room.

Giving a smile toward her, Sister Jacqueline whispered: "Sure it is!... Hahahahaha!"

**THE END**


End file.
